Haitian Revolution

The Haitian Revolution was a fast-changing military and political arena in which Haitian slaves rose up against a series of colonial powers in order to gain their freedom. Led by freed former plantation slave Toussaint L'ouverture, the slaves fought guerrilla warfare without many major battles and in 1800 took over all of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and in 1801 took over Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic). Their main enemy was the French, although at one point they had allied with them. The Haitians were weakened by the capture of L'ouverture and his death in prison, but in 1804, two years after his capture, the Haitians formed the First Haitian Empire after more fighting.

Background
In 1659 France colonized parts of Hispaniola, creating the colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) with the capital at Port-au-Prince. The French imported slaves to work on plantations in their colonies in Saint-Domingue, and they worked contently until the political shockwaves brought on by the French Revolution of 1789. Freed former plantation slave Toussaint L'ouverture led an uprising of slaves in 1791, arming them with French weapons.

War
The Haitian rebels originally fought against the French government, winning a series of ambushes and raids that demoralized the French troops in Saint-Domingue. They allied with Spain and raided the colony from neighboring Santo Domingo (the Dominican Republic), but in 1794 Toussaint switched sides and was made a Brigadier-General by France's revolutionary government. The Haitian Rebels fought not only against the Spanish, but also the French, rival rebel groups, and the British. Britain dispatched a 10,000-strong expeditionary force under Thomas Maitland to invade Saint-Domingue, but due to tactical flair, Toussaint restricted the British to even narrower zones of occupation, driving them out completely in 1798. By 1800 Toussaint was in control of Saint-Domingue and by 1801 he had also taken over Santo Domingo, controlling all of Hispaniola.

Sadly, these fortunes were short-lived. Napoleon had recently taken power in France and ordered for Charles Leclerc and a substantial army to put down the rebellion. Leclerc seized Toussaint in 1802 and deported him to France, where he died in prison a year later. However, the revolution survived under his aide Henri Christophe, who became the first Emperor of Haiti in 1804.

Aftermath
In 1821 the Dominican Republic of Santo Domingo gained independence from Spain and from Haiti in 1844, and beat off a Spanish invasion in 1863. The Haitians changed governments many times, but in 1825 gained recognition as a republic.